Butterfield (1995) suggests that the code of honor held by whites in the Old South may have diffused to southern African American and continues to generate honor-related or respect-related violence by contemporary African American males. We test this by linking 1850 census data to contemporary homicide data (1999-2001) at the level of U. S. counties. Census data for 1850 are used to measure factors that my have caused the code of honor to arise in the Old South, namely, herding economies, Scotch-Irish communities, and the absence of farming communities. The hypothesis tested is: the 1850 herding index will produce a positive effect on argument-related homicides (those that arise from drunken brawls and lovers' triangles, etc.) and no effect on felony-related homicides (those that arise from robberies, burglaries, etc.). Prior work found that this hypothesis holds for southern white males and our contribution is a test of this hypothesis as it applies to African American males. Our results lead to the rejection of this hypothesis as the herding index produces no effect on the argument-related cases and a positive effect on felony-related homicides, for African American males. This work potentially contributes to cultural explanations of violence.